


Ashes Like Snow

by ToxikCherrys16



Category: Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Angst, Betting, Bombing, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Love, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Halstead Sister, I hate tagging, I'm Bad At Tagging, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Older Brothers, Secret Relationship, based off an episode of The Bill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25308427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxikCherrys16/pseuds/ToxikCherrys16
Summary: Nietzsche wrote, “The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather a condition of it.” Disclaimer- I DO NOT OWN CHICAGO PD, FIRE OR MED.
Relationships: Greg "Mouse" Gerwitz & Original Female Character(s), Greg "Mouse" Gerwitz/Original Female Character(s), Jay Halstead & Original Female Character(s), Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Will Halstead & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 9





	Ashes Like Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys and gals. It is I. I knows it's been a while since I posted anything, and I'm sorry for that. My laptop died on me and I was only just able to get another computer, I've been struggling to write, I haven't been able to log into my e-mails (so I haven't been getting any reviews, favourite, follow notifications), and keep getting ideas for new stories. Now that I can type stuff up now, I'm hoping that I'll be able to work more efficiently.
> 
> Today is my 24th birthday, and I've had this finished for the last month with the plan to post it today. It's based off of an episode of The Bill (Season 24 Episode 33 - Frontline: Shockwave). It's not the exact same, but this was always a favourite episode of mine, and i got the made idea to write a fic on it.
> 
> Anyway, on with the story. Please R&R if you want to.
> 
> Thanks to anybody who's favourited, followed, reviewed, and all that jazz.
> 
> Face claim - blond Emma Stone.
> 
> T.C
> 
> ~oOo~

** Chapter 1  **

**I’m Falling With My Fear**

The day started off like any other. Dex was dancing around the kitchen in her underwear and one of her boyfriend’s button up shirts while she made breakfast. It was a morning ritual for her to cook, whether she’d just come off a night shift or before she started – depending on the week, what they needed and holiday’s – and it either got her geared up to go, or helped wind her down.

Her boyfriend, Greg Gerwitz, also known as Mouse, surveyed the scene with a smile on his face, as she left the pan of bacon to grab two mugs from the cupboard; filling one with coffee and the other with tea. She put the mugs on the counter before turning back to the food, which is when Mouse made his presence known as e wondered over to the coffee and gave Dex a quick kiss on the head.

“You’re a saint, did you know that?” He asked, taking a sip from his mug and then helping start the clean up, as she poured the beaten eggs into another pan and dunking the bread in afterwards. Now she had to wait for it to cook, then flip it, put the cheese and bacon on, overlay the eggs, and make it into a sandwich… The repeat the process twice more.

“You tell me that whenever I cook for you.” She blushed as her lips turned up in a small smile. It never failed to get a reaction out of her, and Mouse loved it. Dex was so brave and unflappable and daring, that seeing her in moments like this was almost a privilege. Not many people got to see her like this.

“Go get changed. I’ll finish this off.” He told her as she started the last sandwich and finished wrapping up the other two, “I promise I won’t set anything on fire, and we’ll be able to cuddle longer before we’re expected at work.”

**~oOo~**

Even with being ready earlier then they usually would be, they still ended up almost being late. Dex argued that is was all Mouse’s fault, despite having to turn round three times to go back up to her apartment because she’d left something behind. She told him it was his fault because he was too cute and distracting, and that was her reasoning behind the blame. Mouse just chuckled before dashing upstairs to his computer.

Dex had to make a detour to her locker to put her stuff away and get changed into her uniform. She then had to sprint up the stairs to the Intelligence Unit to meet Kim, and give one of the sandwiches to her brother, Jay – which he took gladly – and split her own with Kim.

“Let us step out into the night and pursue that slightly temptress, adventure.” She said to Kim, who looked awfully confused by the statement, considering that it wasn’t even eight in the morning, but she just rolled with it.

“Don’t you already have enough action and adventure in your life to get on with, without adding more to it?” Antonio had known her the longest, after Jay and Mouse, so he was more used to the little phrases she tended to come out with.

She just laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m changing my name to Dex ‘Action’ Halstead.”

“Yeah?” Jay smiled at his little sister, “Well, with a middle name like Winifred, I’d change mine too.” He dodged the hand that whirled round to smack him, “Our parents obviously hated her when she was born. I honestly feel sorry for you when you have to fill out documents. Truly feel for you.” And he put a hand over his heart, but she could see the mirth in his eyes.

“Dex isn’t that bad of a name though.” Ruzek cut in.

Jay just continued to laugh at his sister’s misfortune. “Dex is her nickname. Her full name is Dex…” But her didn’t get any further, as the woman in question had hurled a water bottle at him, and it hit its mark when it struck him in the stomach. She was aiming for his head, but she would take it as a win anyway, “Ow! Fine, I’ll keep your abnormally long name secret, but I do have a question for you though. How, when you don’t drink coffee, are you always so chipper in the morning?”

The youngest Halstead just smirked at her brother before she answered. “There’s nothing like a good, hard pounding to get you ready for the day.” And Mouse almost choked on his drink as he walked from the break room to his desk.

“You okay there, buddy?”

“Fine.” He couched, setting his mug down, “Just wasn’t expecting your sister to start talking about her conquests. Especially not this early in the morning.”

“And how could I forget last night?” She gasped, “Tired me out, all that slow, sensual…”

“Nope. Nope.” Jay stuck his fingers in his ears and shut his eyes, so he missed the blush creeping up Mouse’s face, “My sister is an innocent flower, yet to be defiled by men.” Dex resisted the urge to say ‘who said anything about it being a man,’ as her brother continued his muttering about her soul.

Erin held out her fist, and Dex bumped it with her own. It was fun to see her partner squirm, while knowing full well who the young officer was talking about. In fact, it seemed like the only people out of everyone from the 21st District, 51, and Med who didn’t seem to know, were Jay and Will. There was even an ongoing bet about who would find out first, how it would happen, how long it would be, and so much more. It was surprising that they’d managed to keep it secret when so many people knew about it.

“Come on, Kimmy. We’re on foot patrol for the morning, and time and tide wait for no man.” And with a quick wink at Mouse – whose ears went pink – the two officers left for the streets of Chicago.

**~oOo~**

They chatted about meaningless things at first. Kim wanted to be sure they were far enough away from the District that they wouldn’t be overheard before talking about anything to do with the relationship between Mouse and Dex… And she wanted to see if she could influence the bet in her favour – that it would be at a family dinner and just blurt it out.

“Have you given any thought into telling your brothers?” Dex gave her partner a knowing look, “I just meant that it has to be hard with all the sneaking around behind their backs. Maybe you should just announce it next time the three of you are together. Preferably over dinner…” Kim stopped talking when she spotted the look that was being aimed her way.

“This is about the bet, right?”

“Bet? What bet? Who said anything about a bet?” Kim laughed, nervously trying very hard not to look guilty and looking away from the blond as they continued walking, before finally giving in, “Alright, it is. How did you know about it anyway.”

Dex just chuckled. “I help out at Molly’s when Hermann needs it. I found the bet book ages ago. Some of the bets are ridiculous, and some are just hilarious. Otis bet that we’d be caught having sex in Voight’s office, and I’m almost certain that it was Cruz who wrote underneath about how this incident would be how our first child was conceived.” She scoffed, shaking her head, “What on Earth possessed them into writing that?”

Kim thought about it briefly. “I think they were very drunk.” She finally answered. There was a beat of silence, and then they burst out laughing. The joyous atmosphere didn’t last very long though, as an explosion ripped through the calm morning. “What the hell?”

The two officers looked at each other before they took off running down the street, and just as they turned the corner, another explosion sent people flying. Ash and dust hung in the air like a cloud, and debris was strewn across the street. Kim went to check on one of the people near the blast while Dex called it in.

“Main, this is Officer Halstead, badge number 42779…” But she didn’t get any further as Kim looked up from the victim and saw the deviation down another street.

“Dex!” And she ran over to look at what had drawn Kim’s attention. More chaos met them as people littered the street, both alive and dead, some were walking, others comforting those who’d started going into shock, more debris could be seen, and somebody was trying to help a woman trapped in her car, “What do we do? Where do we start?”

Alarms were blaring, people were screaming, and they were looking at the two female officers for help. “I’ll call it in. Just help anyone you can until backup comes.” And Kim took off into the fray of people, “Main, this is Officer Halstead. Officer Burgess and I are on Colshaw Street, and there’s been some kind of explosion.” She leaned down to check the pulse of a man next to her. There wasn’t one. “There are multiple casualties. We need additional units, both fire and ambulances. I repeat, we have casualties on Colshaw Street.”

Looking round, it was almost like the war zones that Mouse and Jay had described. It was nothing like she’d seen before, and she hoped that she never saw anything like it again. This would be something burned into her memory, forever. She was so caught up in what she was seeing that she missed Main’s reply, and they had to repeat their reply of ‘backup is en route. How many casualties are there?’

“I don’t know. Multiple. Just send as many ambulances as you can spare.” Dex was going round checking on people as she replied, “I definitely heard a second explosion. There were two explosions.” She jogged over to one of the cars, planted her foot on the back door, and yanked open the front one, “Are you alright?” The woman in the car nodded, “Can you walk?” Again, she nodded, “Okay, I need you to exit the vehicle and the area. Wait for an ambulance to check you over, alright?” And she went off to help more people.

It didn’t take long for back up to arrive. They started to check buildings caught in the blast radius to see if anybody was trapped, injured or dead, and helped get the walking wounded out of the way. The less people in the way, the safer everybody would be in case of another explosion. Kim was with a woman sat on the curb, other uniformed officers were putting a cordon up to keep people out and checking on others, and Dex had spotted another woman trapped in a car.

She ran over to the woman who had blood running down her face. “Hey, sweetheart. What’s your name?” She asked through the window, thinking it would be easier to open the door, but it was stuck. They’d have to wait for a fire company to arrive.

“Kathy.” The woman answered.

“Hi, Kathy. I’m Dex. Listen, you have to stay awake for me, alright?” Kathy nodded, “It there anybody I can contact for you?” Dex saw that her eyes had started to flutter shut, “It’s really important that you stay awake for me.” Another officer, Roman, came over to see if he could have anymore lick getting the door open, and Dex took the opportunity to go round to the drivers side of the car, “Kathy, we’re going to get you out as soon as possible.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Dex didn’t want to speculate, and she knew what would happen if she was heard talking about what she thought it might have been. It could have been a gas main, but she couldn’t smell anything, so that ruled out the sewers too, but the most likely explanation was a bomb, “But we’re going to get you out of here. No, don’t drift off. Kathy!”

A man came up to Dex. He had glasses on and he looked a little dusty, but so did everybody in the area, even those not involved in the chaos had ash, dust, and soot clinging to their skin and clothes. “I’m a doctor at Lakeshore. How can I help” Dex explained the situation to the doctor before he introduced himself, “Hi, Kathy. I’m Dr. Richard Blackman. Let’s have a look shall we.”

Dex couldn’t stay with them though. There was still more people to check on and they were spread thin waiting for more help to arrive. She checked that Kim was alright as she led somebody to safety, watched somebody else carry an injured woman out of a building and set her down a little way from the damage, with other people joining them not long afterwards.

The ambulances and fire engines arrived soon after, and Dex was almost relieved to see that her friends from 51 were among them, but she was terrified at the same time. She didn’t want anything to happen to them, but seeing them helped to calm her nerves. They quickly got to work on putting out fires, treating the injured, and helping the trapped.

They made quick work of cutting the top of Kathy’s car off, securing her, and getting her out, but she kept mumbling about how they had to stop him. Roman, who’d been on the other side of the car and saw Dex talking to the woman, asked her what she meant.

“You have to stop him.” She cried.

“Who?”

“The doc… The man.” Roman shook his head slightly, not completely understanding who she was talking about, “He touched me… He had his hand under my skirt… Said he was a doctor.”

Roman looked round, frantically trying to find who she was talking about. He was sure he’d seen him talking to Dex at the car. And, as luck would have it, he found the two of them standing quite close to each other - the fake doctor talking to a couple just behind Dex, who was making sure some children were all right.

“Hey, Halstead.” And she looked up at the call of her name, “Stop that guy! He’s not a real doctor.” He shouted, pointing towards the man in question, who, at that moment, realized that it was I’m they were talking about, and he took off.

He wasn’t quick enough to escape Dex though. She’d grown up as the youngest Halstead child with two older brothers. They’d been very rough and tumble, and she’d joined in as soon as she was old enough, was taught how to defend herself and, to this day, still maintained that the guy who groped her in the lunch line at fifteen kicked himself in the balls. So when he ran away from her, she was determined to catch him. He’d lied to her, and that was something that she hated, but she felt guilty because she’d fallen for it.

She tackled him to the ground before he’d even made it to the corner, and they landed hard on the ground. He tried to escape from her, but she sat on his back, and she refused to move. Not until he was in cuffs anyway. It didn’t stop him from trying though. Just as she started to read him his rights, he snapped his elbow back into her jaw.

His escape plan didn’t quite go exactly how he wanted though, cause while he was able to escape Dex - who’d fallen backwards from the blow he’d inflicted - he hadn’t quite managed to evade Hank Voight, who seemed to appear out of nowhere with the rest of the Intelligence Unit. They’d witnessed the youngest Halstead’s takedown and the attempted escape. Jay had him slammed against the hood of the car before the perp could blink.

“Nice try.” She head him say as Atwater helped her up and they wandered over, “But next time, don’t assault my sister in my presence. You’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and… What were you chasing him for Dex?”

“Sexual assault and impersonating a medical professional.” She winced as she ran a hand down her leg. When she looked down, she saw that blood had started to pool on her palm, and she could see some glass in the wound too.

And while she stared transfixedly at her bleeding palm, she missed Voight coming to stand in front of her. She jumped when he started speaking to her. “You should get that checked out. It looks nasty.”

“I’m fine, Sarge. This is nothing.”

“I wasn’t asking. Go to Med, get checked out, then go back to the District. You’ll need to fill out a report on what happened, both the explosions and the assault. It’s better we cover all our bases with this.” He told her, leading her over to Brett and Shay, who’d just arrived back at the scene. It was only when she sat down in the back of the ambulance, that everything hit her like a tidal wave. She couldn’t stop her hands from shaking or the tears that welled up in her eyes.

“Why would anyone do something like this?” Dex asked as Brett tried to place a bottle of water in her shaking hands, but she ultimately decided it would be better to do it herself if they didn’t want to end up soaked.

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out. I’m gonna keep Burgess here, and have somebody pick you up. Now go get yourself checked out.” And he closed the ambulance doors.

**~oOo~**

Dr. Ethan Choi sat her down on the edge of one of the beds before he started to clean, remove the glass and bandage her hand. She did have a bit of blood on the blue cuff of her uniform, but there wasn’t much she could do about it until she could change it back at the District.

“I’m really sorry to have you do this.” Dex muttered, keeping still while her friend did his job, “You must have better things to do today. People who are more important then me. People who have more serious injuries.”

Ethan sighed as glass plinked into the metal bowl on the tray table. “It’s fine, Dex.” More glass was taken from her hand as he said this, “It’s no problem. To be honest, it’s a nice change of pace.” He cleaned the wounds again, “I’ve been running round all day, so getting to sit down out of the way… It’s relaxing.” He took one final lookout the cuts on her hand, and then began to wrap it up, “It looks like you’re all done.”

Dex flexed her hand to make sure the bandage wasn’t on too tight, and she was just standing up when Will turned into the bay. Her older brother looked relieved to see her relatively unharmed, and he strode over and engulfed her in a hug. “I heard you were here. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. A little shaken, but fine all the same. Better then most anyway.” Ethan left to give them some time alone, “Did a woman named Kathy get taken here. She was trapped in a car. She had brown hair.”

Will thought for a few seconds. “Yeah. She’s here. Concussion and a couple fractures. She’s in for observation, but all going well, she should be able to go home by the weekend. Why do you ask?”

“I talked to her, while she was trapped.” Tears started to well up in her eyes, “A guy came over, said he was a doctor. I believed him, and he assaulted her. It’s my fault that it happened to her. If I had just stopped to…”

“To what?” Will asked her, “To do what, Dex? I’ve seen pictures of the devastation, the news crews have been down there, filmed the aftermath. People have posted videos of the chaos immediately after the explosions. You have no idea how scared I was when I saw you moving round the area, and thinking ‘is this where my sister dies? Am I gonna watch another explosion kills her?’ And the thought terrified me.” Tears rolled down Dex’s face, “If I had been in your position, I’d have believed who he said he was. I’d have been looking for help wherever I could get it. It’s not your fault. People older and wiser than you have been fooled by the right lie, the pretty face, the right story.”

“He was far from pretty.”

“Not the point. It doesn’t matter who you are, what job you have, or anything like that. Anybody can be fooled, at any time. I mean, if I blamed myself for every lie I’d ever told you…” She hit his shoulder, and he laughed, “Point is, don’t blame yourself. You probably aren’t the first person he fooled, and I doubt you’ll be the last.”

The two siblings stayed hugging for another few seconds before they parted. “I need to get back to the District.” She told him, wiping her eyes, “Voight wants me to fill out some reports about today’s incidents.”

**~oOo~**

Of all the people Voight could have sent to pick her up, it had to be Patrolman DeLuca. He was an ass, and Dex hated him. He’d tried to sue Roman for a chipped tooth and a split lip after he refused to move after a child had been shot. In Dex’s opinion, DeLuca got what he had been asking for, and if Roman hadn’t done it, she would have. But in the present, she was just ignoring him the best she could as she drove back to the District. She didn’t care about his opinion, but she was getting ticked off by his voice.

“I could have been at the cordon, but I’m pulled off it to drive you back to the District.”

“Well, you’re not driving, are you, DeLuca.” Dex snapped, her knuckles turning white on the steering wheel, “And you only want to be on the cordon, cause you have the opportunity to be caught on camera or get interviewed for the news.”

He looked angry at the comment. “It’s where the action is. Just because you’re Intelligence’s bitch, doesn’t mean that I have to do what they say.”

“And yet, here you are. In a car, annoying me. So much for not be anybody’s bitch, DeLuca.”

“Nepotism is what got you here. It’s either that, or you slept your way…” He didn’t get to finish his sentence, as Dex slammed on the brakes and bought them to a complete stop in the middle of the road. She also didn’t waste any time in getting out of the car, and he was quick to follow her.

“Nepotism? You’re one to talk about that. And my sex life has nothing to do with you or anyone else.” She shouted, throwing the keys at DeLuca, “But just to clarify to your pea sized brain, I have only slept with one person, and that’s my boyfriend. You can drive back to the District yourself, and you can tell Platt and Voight why you’re alone, or you could go back to the cordon like you so want to. Just get the hell away from me.”

**~oOo~**

She’d only been walking for about ten minutes when she heard it. An alarm was blaring out from down a little alley, which led into a small courtyard with an old office building in the middle. Dex sighed when she saw the smoke coming from one of the windows. With the day she’d had, she was relieved to see that it wasn’t anything more serious.

“Main, this is Officer Halstead, badge number 42779, this is a fire message. Industry House. Smoke pouring from a first floor window, over.” And she made her way up the stairs and into the building.

“ _Received._ ”

People passed her as she made her way up yet more stairs. Thankfully some people had common sense when it came to a fire alarm, and exited the building, but Dex knew that there’s be others who weren’t as smart, and they’d just sit there until somebody told them what to do. It was pathetic, really.

When her phone rang, Dex almost jumped out of her skin, but she quickly reached into her pocket, and pulled it out. “Halstead.”

“ _You sound almost exactly like your brother when you do that._ ” And it made her chuckle, “ _It’s Sergeant Platt. You reported a fire at number 9, Industry House?_ ”

“Yes, Sarge. I’ve just entered the building now.” She answered, making her way down one of the corridors.

“ _Well, I don’t want to panic anybody, but tests have confirmed that the explosions this morning, were fertilizer bombs. Have you got that?_ ”

“Yes, Sarge.” And she moved out of the way as more people started to pass her. She was also trying not to let her fear show on her face. She didn’t want to cause any more panic, terror or confusion then there needed to be.

“ _This fire might not have anything to do with it, but we don’t want to take any risks._ ” Platt continued.

Dex looked around at all the people passing her. “I understand, Sarge.”

“ _Right. What I want you to do, is evacuate all the offices around the fire, then get yourself out of there. We’ve got back up on the way._ ” But Dex couldn’t answer as she processed everything that she’d been through that day and what she’d just been told, “ _Have you got that, Dex._ ” More silence, “ _Dex?_ ”

Something inside her told her to move, to answer. “Yes. Sorry, Sarge. All received, thank you.” And she ended the call; leaving the wall she’d been leaning on. Platt’s voice came over the radio, but it wasn’t a message for Dex, but rather a call for aid from anyone in the vicinity of the young Halstead’s location, “Excuse me.” She went over to a woman who didn’t look much older then herself, “This isn’t a drill. Can you tell me where all the emergency meeting points are?”

“The back of the building.”

“Okay. You need to tell the fire martial to get people out of the building, as far away from it as possible. Do you understand?” The woman nodded and started to move, “Do it quickly.” Then she got to work, letting people know that it wasn’t a drill, to exit the building, and to leave their belongings behind. She banged on the windows of one office, “Sir, get off the phone, there is a fire alarm going off. Please move out of the building as fast as you can.” She rolled her eyes at some people, “Move it. Everybody out, quickly. Is there anybody left back there?” She asked a man who’d come out of another office.

“No.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” He nodded his head at her, and she did her own quick, cursory sweep, but it was as she turned back to the maze of offices that she spotted something out of the ordinary. Two men were on the ground floor delivering boxes. They weren’t taking any heed of the fire alarms, and that worried Dex, as she turned back to the task at hand, and saw that the man who’d been on the phone had come back to restart his call, “What are you doing? Get out of the building, did you hear me? This is not a drill.”

After a few more minutes of shouting at people to evacuate and re-checking offices to make sure that they were empty and nobody had gone back to collect anything, Dex was ready to leave the building. She was following behind a group when Sergeant Platt radioed her to ask about her progress.

“Halstead receiving. The unit where the small fire was, is now clear, over.”

“ _Good work. Now, back up is on the way, but you need to continue the evacuation of the other units. The closest fire company has been delayed because of an earlier incident, but we are trying to find one who can respond._ ”

“All received, over.” She sighed. The task would have been a lot easier if she had some help, but it would just take a lot longer if she stopped and waited for somebody else to arrive. She heard an older officer say that him and his partner could attend, but they were far out from the scene, and were told to stay put, but Dex was only half listening to the conversation. She was more concerned with everybody getting out of the building safely, but she turned round when she heard footsteps coming from behind her, “Sir, where are you taking that package?”

“I’m sorry. This has been delivered to the wrong address.”

Dex looked at the package, then up at the man holding it with fear in her eyes. “Okay. You need to put that down really, really carefully. All right?” And he slowly followed her order, “And once you’ve done that, you need to get out of the building as fast as you can. Go. Away from it.” Again, the man did as he was told, while Dex back up; never taking her eyes off it as she reached for her radio, “Main, this is Halstead. We have a suspicious package at Mayweather Support, which is number 11 Industry House. I’m now evacuating the building, over.”

But the relief of her own evacuation was short lived, as the woman in charge of getting people out to the checkpoint found her way back to the officer to tell her that she still had four people unaccounted for. Dex looked from the exit – towards safety – and then back to where she’d just come from – towards danger.

Thoughts whirled round her head at an almost dizzying speed as she quickly thought over her options. It was possible that there’d been a miscount, but would she be able to live with herself if it turned out that wasn’t the case? That she’d run away without even checking to make sure she hadn’t missed anybody. It was her job to serve and protect.

And with a quick pray, and a stern command to the woman to evacuate, Dex ran back into the building; making sure not to hit the package as she ran past and up the stairs. She started retracing her steps as she entered back into the offices. “Hello? Hello! Is there anyone in here? If you’re in here, you need to get out of the building.”

**~oOo~**

Back at the 21st District, Mouse had been listening into the radio communications all day while he did other tasks for Voight. They had a theory about why the bomber had targeted Colshaw Street after a couple more bombs had been discovered – The Four Evils of the Internet. Pornography, racial hatred, identity theft, and child abuse. A fake bomb had been found at the home of a well-known identity thief, and a flour bomb had gone off at a warehouse around the same time as the first bomb, having accidentally set off by another officer.

They were quickly able to find out that the man behind the bombings was Colin Moore. He’d been kicked out of college for computer hacking, fixed computers for another firm, and seemed to disappear six months before. He’d been an informant for the Sex Crimes unit, but just before his disappearance, his roommate had kicked him out and accused him of pedophilia. Intelligence had picked him up by accident under the name James Marfield, but he was currently sitting in an interrogation room, being questioned after he’d been found building one of his bombs.

Mouse had taken the time to grab another coffee from the break room, and when he came back, he found the analysis of the bombs had come back. Traces of nitrate, which would have made them fertilizer bombs. He informed Al and Antonio as they walked by, and he was just about to change to a different channel when he heard it.

“ _Main, this is Halstead. We have a suspicious package at Mayweather Support, which is number 11 Industry House. I’m now evacuating the building, over._ ” Mouse almost breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his girlfriend’s voice, but something didn’t seem right.

Voight walked past with Lindsey just after the message came through, and Mouse was quick to tell him where Dex was, how she’d found a suspicious package, and that she was on her own. The Sergeant was very confused as to why she was where she was, especially when she was suppose to have gone from the hospital to the District, and for her to be on her own, that meant her partner had left her on her own.

“Let’s move out.”

The race from the building to the cars was real. Jay didn’t even think that he’d ever moved as fast as he had in his whole life as a police officer, and they were making pretty good time until they hit the traffic. But Jay couldn’t sit still. Not while his sister was in danger, so he opened the door and got out.

“Where are you going?”

Jay didn’t get to answer right away, as his sister’s voice filtered through the radio. “ _Main, it’s Halstead. There are still four people unaccounted for. I’m now on the second floor, over._ ”

“ _Received. Do a quick sweep, then get out of there._ ”

Lindsey looked from the traffic, to the radio, then back to Jay, but he’d already made up his mind. “It’ll be quicker on foot.” And he took off.

**~oOo~**

Back at the building, Dex had found three of the missing people and had escorted them to the stairs – giving warnings to be careful – before she turned round and went back towards the offices.

“ _Officer Halstead. Get yourself out of there._ ” Platt told her, her voice coming through her radio.

“Sarge, there’s still one more.”

“ _Dex…_ ” But she stopped, knowing that Dex would never leave anybody behind when she knew they were in there, so she changed her tactics, “ _All units in the vicinity of Industry House, please give me a location._ ”

But Dex wasn’t really paying any attention to them as she ran back through the offices, checking every single one of them. Lindsey reported what street she was on, Roman and Burgess sad they were two minutes out, and Jay informed them that he was on foot and could see the estate. And all the while, Dex was calling out, wanting desperately for the missing person to hear her.

“ _We’re clear of traffic now, only a couple minutes out._ ” Antonio said, and Ruzek was the next to speak.

“ _Heading east on Pittshanger Road._ ”

Dex was just about to give up on the floor when she heard it. Even above the noise of the fire alarm and everybody talking over her radio, she could hear this weird noise. The hum of music through headphones. She pushed open an ajar door with frosted glass, and found the man she’d been looking for’ hunched over his laptop with his headphones in.

“Sir!” She shouted, touching his shoulder, and he jumped; causing the headphones to fall out of his ears, “You need to get out of here as fast as possible. Come with me.” And he followed her without question.

As they were running, Burgess’ voice broke through the alarms as she gave an update to their location. “ _Just turned onto the estate. Should be less then a minute._ ”

“Quickly, quickly.” She told the man as they made their way down the last flight of stairs, “Main, Officer Halstead. The building has now been evacuated, over.”

“ _Good work. Now get yourself out of there, Dex._ ”

“On my way out now.” But just as she ran through one of the last doors towards the exit, towards safety, she heard a noise, like a metal door banging shut. She turned around, and saw two men in uniforms across the other side of the room, “Hey! You two.” She ran forwards and…

**~oOo~**   
  


BOOM!

Jay stopped dead as the explosion echoed around him, setting off car alarms, before he continued running. He tried hailing his sister, but the only reply he got was static. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Roman and Burgess rounding the corner just as he entered the building.

Platt tried to get hold of her too, but found that she got the same response as Jay - static. Mouse had his fingers crossed, as Atwater’s voice seemed to break the silence. “ _Main, there’s been an explosion. Intelligence has just arrived on scene._ ”

“Officer Halstead, are you receiving?” More static, “Dex? Dex!” But the static continued.

Paper was still falling as Kim ran into the room. She was just in time to see Jay throw a frame of wood off of a black and blue clad figure on the floor. Another alarm was going off and ash was falling around them, almost like snow; covering the floor and settling everywhere from hair to clothes. Kim knelt by the woman side, while Jay checked for any signs of breathing or a pulse, before unzipping her vest.

“10-13. 10-13.” Roman had been quick to follow his partner in, and see the devastation. He was also the one who had the clearest head at that moment in time, “We need an ambulance at our location, Industry House. We’ve had an explosion, and Officer Halstead is serious injured. I repeat, seriously injured.”

Kneeling on the other side of Dex, Jay and Kim were doing all they could. Jay had started CPR on his sister, counting the compressions under his breath – thirty compressions, two breaths – doing it over and over while Kim brushed the ash from her face. Some of Dex’s blonde hair had fallen out of her braid; resting against a newly acquired wound on the left side of her pale face.

Ruzek tried calling in the rendezvous, but he stopped as he looked down at Dex, who only earlier that morning had been laughing and joking with the man who was desperately trying to get his sister to breathe. He could almost swear that he heard her ribs crack as Jay continued the compressions. He’d broken her ribs, and Kim was crying as she begged him not to stop.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen…”


End file.
